The biology of an isolated population of the American Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber in the Galapagos Islands

A genetically and morphologically divergent population of c. 500 American Flamingos, isolated from the parental Caribbean stock of Phoenicopterus ruber, occurs in the Galapagos archipelago. Based primarily on data from a 3-year study, we provide the first description of the feeding and breeding biology of this population. Galapagos provides a suitable habitat comprising lagoons on a number of islands, among which the flamingos travel in response to food and nest site availability. We identify putative food items. The occurrence and quantity of some food species was associated with the chlorosity of lagoon water, as was the distribution of flamingos. The flamingos bred opportunistically at five lagoons on four islands, sometimes simultaneously on more than one island. Group display usually involved = 20 birds, and colonies contained as few as three nests. Laying occurred during nine months of the year, mainly August–January, coinciding with the coastal drier season and low lagoon water levels. On average c.30% of all adults incubated clutches each year, producing 0.37 fledglings per clutch. Recruitment is probably sufficient to sustain the population, which has been stable over at least c. 45 years, and is probably limited by suitable habitat. Moult to flightlessness was recorded among adults. We review potential dangers to this unique population and suggest conservation measures

Self-perceived physical health predicts cardiovascular disease incidence and death among postmenopausal women

BACKGROUND: Physical and Mental Component Summary (PCS, MCS, respectively) scales of SF- 36 health-related-quality-of-life have been associated with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Their relationships with CVD incidence are unclear. This study purpose was to test whether PCS and/or MCS were associated with CVD incidence and death. METHODS: Postmenopausal women (aged 50–79 years) in control groups of the Women’s Health Initiative clinical trials (n = 20,308) completed the SF-36 and standardized questionnaires at trial entry. Health outcomes, assessed semi-annually, were verified with medical records. Cox regressions assessed time to selected outcomes during the trial phase (1993–2005). RESULTS: A total of 1075 incident CVD events, 204 CVD-specific deaths, and 1043 total deaths occurred during the trial phase. Women with low versus high baseline PCS scores had less favorable health profiles at baseline. In multivariable models adjusting for baseline confounders, participants in the lowest PCS quintile (reference = highest quintile) exhibited 1.8 (95%CI: 1.4, 2.3), 4.7 (95%CI: 2.3, 9.4), and 2.1 (95%CI: 1.7, 2.7) times greater risk of CVD incidence, CVD-specific death, and total mortality, respectively, by trial end; whereas, MCS was not significantly associated with CVD incidence or death. CONCLUSION: Physical health, assessed by self-report of physical functioning, is a strong predictor of CVD incidence and death in postmenopausal women; similar self-assessment of mental health is not. PCS should be evaluated as a screening tool to identify older women at high risk for CVD development and death

Cardiovascular Health and Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer

The American Heart Association's “Simple 7” offers a practical public health conceptualization of cardiovascular health (CVH). CVH predicts incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in younger populations, but has not been studied in a large, diverse population of aging postmenopausal women. The extent to which CVH predicts cancer in postmenopausal women is unknown

Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use

Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders 1 . They are heritable 2,3 and etiologically related 4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts 6–11 . In sample sizes up to 1.2 million individuals, we discovered 566 genetic variants in 406 loci associated with multiple stages of tobacco use (initiation, cessation, and heaviness) as well as alcohol use, with 150 loci evidencing pleiotropic association. Smoking phenotypes were positively genetically correlated with many health conditions, whereas alcohol use was negatively correlated with these conditions, such that increased genetic risk for alcohol use is associated with lower disease risk. We report evidence for the involvement of many systems in tobacco and alcohol use, including genes involved in nicotinic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic neurotransmission. The results provide a solid starting point to evaluate the effects of these loci in model organisms and more precise substance use measures

The first 20 months of the COVID-19 pandemic: Mortality, intubation and ICU rates among 104,590 patients hospitalized at 21 United States health systems

Main objective There is limited information on how patient outcomes have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study characterizes changes in mortality, intubation, and ICU admission rates during the first 20 months of the pandemic. Study design and methods University of Wisconsin researchers collected and harmonized electronic health record data from 1.1 million COVID-19 patients across 21 United States health systems from February 2020 through September 2021. The analysis comprised data from 104,590 adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Inclusion criteria for the analysis were: (1) age 18 years or older; (2) COVID-19 ICD-10 diagnosis during hospitalization and/or a positive COVID-19 PCR test in a 14-day window (+/- 7 days of hospital admission); and (3) health system contact prior to COVID-19 hospitalization. Outcomes assessed were: (1) mortality (primary), (2) endotracheal intubation, and (3) ICU admission. Results and significance The 104,590 hospitalized participants had a mean age of 61.7 years and were 50.4% female, 24% Black, and 56.8% White. Overall risk-standardized mortality (adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity, body mass index, insurance status and medical comorbidities) declined from 16% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients (95% CI: 16% to 17%) early in the pandemic (February-April 2020) to 9% (CI: 9% to 10%) later (July-September 2021). Among subpopulations, males (vs. females), those on Medicare (vs. those on commercial insurance), the severely obese (vs. normal weight), and those aged 60 and older (vs. younger individuals) had especially high mortality rates both early and late in the pandemic. ICU admission and intubation rates also declined across these 20 months. Conclusions Mortality, intubation, and ICU admission rates improved markedly over the first 20 months of the pandemic among adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients although gains varied by subpopulation. These data provide important information on the course of COVID-19 and identify hospitalized patient groups at heightened risk for negative outcomes. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04506528 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04506528)

Human papillomavirus vaccines for cervical cancer

The association of carcinoma of the uterine cervix with human papillomavirus indicates that vaccine strategies which target the virus could be useful in the control of disease progression. Recent advances have centered on directing the immune response to prevention of infection, to virus-infected (but nontransformed) cells and to virally transformed cells, with favourable results

Population dynamics of the Galapagos flightless cormorant Phalacrocorax harrisi in relation to sea temperature

The Flightless Cormorant Phalacrocorax harrisi is restricted to c. 400 km of the western coastline of the Galápagos archipelago, coinciding with the local occurrence of seasonal upwelling oceanic currents. Here we report data from a 10-year historical study of a colony of c. 11 8 adult birds stretching c. 2 km along the coastline and representing about 12 % of the total population of the species. The number of clutches laid and juveniles fledged were positively associated with the persistence of cold nutrient-rich surface water in offshore foraging grounds, suggesting that availability of food brought about by changes in marine productivity is both the proximate and ultimate factor controlling the timing and outcome of breeding. Individuals frequently made more than one breeding attempt per year, usually changing mates. Males invested more in nest-building and feeding of the offspring than their mates, and we relate this to male and female reproductive strategies. Most Flightless Cormorants were extremely sedentary, having attachments to local stretches of coastline several hundred metres long. However, a few birds travelled many kilometres, sometimes between colonies. Adult survival and condition was not associated with breeding effort or success. Adult survival, recruitment through births and minimal net immigration validate a published demographic model of the species (Valle 1995)

Section review: Biologicals & immunologicals: Human papillomavirus infection, genital warts and cervical cancer: Prospects for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines

Papillomaviruses cause warts of the skin, anogenital mucosa, and bronchial mucosa, and also pre-neoplastic lesions of the cervical and vulval mucosae, which in a proportion of women progress to invasive carcinomata. Papillomaviruses cannot be propagated in vitro, which has hindered the development of prophylactic vaccines, but recent production of synthetic virus like particles (VLPs) in vitro using recombinant DNA technology has resulted in vaccines which prevent papillomavirus infection in animal models, and has given rise to commercial interest in human prophylactic vaccines. Papillomavirus proteins are generally poorly presented to the immune system in the course of natural infection and, therefore, therapeutic immunity may be produced by appropriate choice of viral protein and delivery system. Immunotherapy for PV associated cancer is targeted at two non-structural PV proteins expressed in cancer cells (E6 and E7), which have been shown to be effective targets for immunotherapy in experimental tumour models: Phase I/II clinical trials are now underway. Immunotherapy for pre-neoplastic lesions presents a greater choice of potential viral antigenic targets: as animal models give conflicting data, clinical trials in man may be necessary to choose the correct antigens. 199

Recombinant Hepatitis B surface antigen vaccines for the delivery of disease-related antigens.

The extraordinary immunogenicity of the envelope protein of Hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) has been exploited to derive the pan-global vaccine to prevent Hepatitis B virus infection. HBsAg protein molecules spontaneously associate within the bipid layer to form empty virus-like particles (VLPs). Here we discuss ways in which HBsAg can be genetically engineered to derive recombinant DNA or VLP vaccines for pathogen associated diseases and some tumors which depend upon the adaptive immune response for prevention or resolution